BEACON HILL ROLL CALL

Senate GOP voted against minority leader no more than six times

The Lowell Sun

Updated:
10/15/2012 07:16:16 AM EDT

THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll-call votes in the House or Senate last week.

This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call examines the percentage of times in 2012 that the Senate's three Republican members voted the same as Senate Republican Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, on key roll-call votes. There are only four GOP members in the entire 40-member Senate.

Beacon Hill Roll Call uses 135 key votes from the 2012 Senate session as the basis for this report. This includes all roll calls that were not on local issues.

Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, voted with Tarr 95.5 percent of the time -- voting against him six times.

Sen. Richard Ross, R-Wrentham, voted with Tarr 97.7 percent of the time -- voting against him three times.

Sen. Michael Knapik, R-Westfield, voted with Tarr 98.5 percent of the time -- voting against him only twice.

ALSO ON BEACON HILL

CHOKING ON FOOD (H 1462): The House approved and sent to the Senate a proposal expanding the current law that requires restaurants with more than 25 seats to have on the premises an employee trained in manual procedures to remove food lodged in a customer's throat. The measure would make the requirements apply to all restaurants regardless of their seating capacity. The measure also exempts take-out only restaurants. The American Red Cross offers a $50 two-hour restaurant emergency program that includes teaching choke-saver skills.

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Supporters said this would close a dangerous loophole and noted customers can choke on food regardless of the size of the restaurant.

Opponents said the bill is well-intentioned but unfortunately would be another costly burden on an already struggling hospitality industry.

THE GOVERNOR VS. THE LEGISLATURE ON SICK-LEAVE BANK LEGISLATION: The House and Senate approved and Gov. Deval Patrick vetoed a bill establishing a sick-leave bank for a cancer-stricken employee of the Department of Health and Human Services. The measure, a common practice for years, allows employees to voluntarily donate sick, personal or vacation days to a sick leave bank for use by an ill fellow state worker so he or she can get paid while on medical leave. Sick-leave banks are typically approved when an individual has limited sick, personal or vacation time left.

Supporters said this case is unique because the employee has advanced cancer and anticipates that her remaining accumulated paid sick time will be depleted very shortly. They said this is a proactive measure to guarantee the sick-leave bank is in place for the employee and to prevent her from worrying about its passage when her health deteriorates at a more rapid pace.

In his veto message, the governor said the employee "currently is attending work and has not indicated a need to take a leave." Patrick continued, "She currently has over 700 hours of leave time available to her should the need arise. As such, this legislation appears unnecessary at this time."

The Legislature continues to meet only in informal sessions in which no roll calls are allowed. The governor's veto cannot be overridden without a roll-call vote. So unless the governor changes his mind, the bill will likely die when the 2012 session ends in January.

Beacon Hill Roll Call is withholding the name of the employee to protect her privacy.

ALLOW SPEARFISHING FOR STRIPED BASS (H 247): The House approved and sent to the Senate a bill legalizing fishing with spearguns for striped bass in Bay State waters. Current law allows spearfishing for all other species except the striped bass.

Supporters said the ban is unfair and noted fishermen are instead spending an estimated $1 million tourism dollars in neighboring New Hampshire and Rhode Island. They argued that spearfishing actually results in less killing of undersized bass than traditional hook-line fishing.

Opponents said the stock of striped bass is already overfished and declining. They argued that supporters are incorrect and that spearfishing results in more killing of undersized bass.

The bill was approved by the House in 2010, but it died when the Senate did not take action on it.

STUDY AKA DEFEAT BILLS

Various committees recommended that proposals be shipped off to a "study committee" where measures are never actually studied and are effectively defeated. Here are some of the bills on their way to a study committee:

POWER OUTAGES (H 3829): Requires electric utilities, after the first eight hours of a power outage, to rebate customers the amount equal to two days of their average prior month's electric bill for each day they are without power.

LARGER TYPE AND AMPLIFIERS (H 3298 and H 3299): This pair requires telephone companies to enlarge the size of the type used in printed telephone directories and public pay phones to be equipped with a hearing amplification device.

ALLOW NONCITIZENS TO VOTE (H 202): Permits cities and towns to allow noncitizens over age 18 to vote in local municipal elections. These noncitizens would be eligible only if they certify in writing that they live in the city or town and "intend in good faith to become a U.S. citizen and intend to begin that process, if eligible." Communities could adopt this law if it is approved by the local governing body and by the voters on a local ballot question.

LEASING HOME PHONES (H 2624): Requires phone companies to specify on all bills the exact charge to a customer who is still leasing his or her telephone. Once the customer's cumulative payments for the leased equipment equal or exceed its fair market value, the customer owns the phone at no additional cost except for a "reasonable finance charge." The customer has the option to refuse ownership of the phone in writing and continue to lease.

Supporters say that many elderly customers have continued leasing phones -- a carryover from decades ago when all phones were leased. They note that many don't even know there's an option to buy and over the years have paid thousands of dollars to continue to rent the phones.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

"It is unfortunate that one person can cause such harm to the legal process and in turn such potential for harm to Boston's neighborhoods. We are concerned about the large number of individuals who will be released from state prison with no plan for transition back into society, and just as concerned about those who may return to a lifestyle that can cause turmoil on our streets."

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, announcing a crisis re-entry plan for those individuals being released from jail due to evidence allegedly tainted at the state drug lab by chemist Annie Dookhan.

"The spectacular failure of the ... lab is a reason to dismiss many of these cases, rather than to spend $100 million re-prosecuting them. That expenditure of time and money would be a waste of both."

American Civil Liberties (ACLU) of Massachusetts Legal Director Matthew Segal, urging the immediate release of all nonviolent drug offenders convicted based upon evidence handled at the state drug lab.

"Selling these items through eBay offers a competitive bidding environment, reaches a high number of potential buyers, and maximizes revenue for taxpayers."

State Treasurer Steve Grossman, announcing an online, live Oct. 20 auction on eBay.com to sell unclaimed items that mostly come from safe-deposit boxes with contents that have gone unclaimed for a period of at least nine years.

"Our point is someone can choke if there's only 23 seats as easily as if there were 30 seats."

Rep. Ruth Balser, D-Newton, supporting her proposal expanding the current law that requires restaurants with more than 25 seats to have on the premises an employee trained in manual procedures to remove food lodged in a customer's throat. The measure would make the requirements apply to all restaurants regardless of their seating capacity.

HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK'S SESSION? During the week of Oct. 8, the House met for a total of 46 minutes while the Senate met for a total of 25 minutes.

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